The Personal Touch - vital for business!

Vital Personal Experiences .... at four in the morning

I have had one of those four in the morning can’t sleep conversations with myself this morning. I was thinking about the genius behind the Old Spice campaign. Yes some may think… really … that’s what you think about at four in the morning? … and this morning I have to answer yes. (cough …. geek)

The genius behind that Old Spice Guy campaign is that it goes a long way to making the campaign personal and individualised. There is a relatively good chance that this guy is going speak directly to you! That is something that really, when it comes to mass media like video, hasn’t happened much before.

This led me to thinking about the concept that has been filling my head almost constantly for the past six months, and that is individualised experience. That is where we are heading, that is what is important, and that is ridiculously exciting.

We are now well on our way in moving past creating standardized ‘things’ for the masses. Yes this is still happening and yes there will always be mass production, but, its no longer going to be the sole form of creation that we aim for when thinking of the masses.

Think about it. Since we’re on the subject of video lets start there with television. What we have traditionally watched on television has been made so that millions (hopefully) of other people can watch what we are watching at the same time. Mass produced viewing. Now that is shifting. Tevo and Mysky and a whole raft of other options allow us to watch those programmes when we want to and we can rewind or fast forward the bits we want to when we want to. In fact you could watch the whole thing in fast forward if you wanted to. And your Mysky (or what ever) will help you out by recording every single episode in that season with the click of a button. You don’t even have to worry that the kids have taken the VCR out of the machine and put their lego in there instead. Your telly does it for you. And before that we had to shift our own day around to watch it, … sorry aunty, can’t come rub your bunions tonight, Coro’s on.

We now have Youtube, where video is produced sometimes just because, and sometimes so that anywhere from millions of people, to just you and your Mum can watch it. Our viewing pleasures are now particularly to our own tastes, and not just that, but when we feel like indulging in those tastes we can.

This concept is also starting to be seen in services as well, arguably an easier thing to do. Good hair dressers, restaurants, hotels, stores are interested in making you feel like you are the only person they care about right now. The good ones have data capturing systems that allow them to see that last time you were there you had coffee with two sugars stirred once with two shakes of cinnamon, which allows you to feel like they remember you and how you like your coffee. They’ll look you in the eye when they talk to you, not like down the road where you have to turn around to see who they’re talking to because their eye contact would imply its everyone else in the world … or their nails.

And I’m happy to say that the idea of individualism is also being pushed in Education by the likes of the fabulous Sir Ken Robinson. We are all different and all have different strengths and weaknesses. The current education system in the western world is doing its best to train academic scholars, or if you end up at trade school plumbers. We’re educated out of our creativity and all of us are expected to learn in the same mainstream way. As the mother of four boys I can confidently say, none of us learn in the same way, and the sooner we are able to embrace that in our education system the better it will be for absolutely everyone without exclusion.

So what’s the point of this 4am ramble, and there is one. I’m asking you to think about what you do in your work. How do you create that personal experience for those that you work with and for.

Actually I think its really simple. Treat people like they are your friend. Treat them like they matter, like you are interested in them specificially. Even if you line of work is about creating one off masterpieces, treat the person who is buying that master piece like you would a friend, and you will go a long way toward creating a personal experience for them.

These four in the morning conversations with myself seem to be a increasing occurrence so I’m sure there will be more of these sharing moments …. Till then … hope you’re all sleeping …. I’ll go put on the coffee.

Janette is owner of The Playground Creative Project Management who have a strong focus on the creative sector - with the byline - bring your imagination and we'll take care of the rest. And that's exactly what they are known for - makign things happen.